By tradition, Thursday evening sees the curtain-raiser to the annual Classic Jazz Party. Most of the festival-goers checked-in to the Village Hotel during the day in good time to freshen up and dine before the Welcome Concert, scheduled to stomp off at ten o'clock. All seats in the hotel's Pub and Grill were occupied as Matthias Seuffert (reeds) led the charge.
Morten Gunnar Larsen sat at the upright, the dynamic French duo of Félix Hunot (banjo, guitar) and bassist Henry Lemaire worked overtime in the engine room alongside drummer Nick Ward, secreted behind a world class front line comprising Seuffert, Rico Tomasso (trumpet) and first time visitor to the CJP, all the way from California, trombonist Dan Barrett.
Opening with My Gal Sal, the octet met with tumultuous applause. They (the audience) had been waiting a whole year (since last year's CJP) to hear more of this stuff! Tea for Two (the elegant Larsen at the piano), I Can't Get Started featuring stratospheric trumpet playing by CJP favourite Rico Tomasso, it was as if we'd never been away.
American trombonist Barrett appeared to be enjoying his first taste of Geordie hospitality, smiling genially, take it all in. A class act, That's Mr. B. The opening concert was all too short at sixty minutes but there was time enough to welcome the returning Nicolle Rochelle (last heard here on North Tyneside in pre-Covid times). The boys in the band wanted to Swing That Music (they did just that) and Ms Rochelle sang Them There Eyes. Yes, the 2023 Classic Jazz Party was up and running. Russell
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